The Cat Eye: Learn It, Love It

Ladies, if you're like me, you've thrown away a thousand liquid eyeliners in disgust since the age of 13. It seems odd, in retrospect, that I couldn't master a pen for my face when so much of my youth was devoted to the practice of penmanship. (Do kids even learn cursive anymore, or do they go straight to iPads?)

I digress. Several months ago, I was in bed with a cold. I was lying in bed, bored, surfing the Web and flipping through old copies of Vogue and Vanity Fair when I began to notice a theme: Liquid liner cat eyes were everywhere; not only in the advertisements, but also in a dozen articles on the best liners for the job and Web tutorials on how to achieve the perfect cat eye.

I grabbed a makeup mirror, all the eyeliners/eyeliner tools in my possession and got to work.

It was this article at Into the Gloss that really sent me on my quest. It never really occurred to me that the cat eye was something that should be practiced (like handwriting!) over and over in one sitting. In the past I tried it, hated it, ditched it -- just like that. But being stuck in bed with a cold is a great excuse to just sit around and play with your makeup.

My cat-eye-friendly tools included a pot of Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Liner and brush, and several liquid pens I had rolling around at the bottom of a make-up junk drawer, where my unused stuff sits until I get around to throwing it out.

There are dozens -- maybe hundreds -- of cat-eye tutorials on YouTube, so I watched a bunch of them. One of the most popular YouTube makeup artists, RAEview, has a really helpful, step-by-step video, which is where I started. Her free-hand technique will require a liquid liner pen and plenty of makeup remover and cotton pads as you get the hang of it.

Best Makeup Removers: Bioderma Crealine H2O is effective and extra-gentle, perfect for repeated passes over the delicate eyeball area.